Novak Djokovic prevailed against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to continue his pursuit for a record-setting 23rd men’s Grand Slam singles championship at the French Open.

The third-seeded, animated Serb defeated the Spaniard 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

In the fourth round, he will face the thirteenth-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz or the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas.

Seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev was eliminated after surrendering a two-set lead to Lorenzo Sonego.

On the Roland Garros clay, the Italian Sonego won a five-set drama 5-7 0-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

It was a shocking loss for Rublev, who had reached the quarterfinals in each of his previous three Grand Slam appearances.

World ranking number 48 Sonego will next face the eleventh seed, Karen Khachanov.

After losing the first two sets, Sonego began to play more aggressively and won the third and fourth sets by tie-break to compel a decisive set.

Sonego won the match when Rublev volleyed into the net on his first match point after Sonego broke his serve to go up 5-4 and serve for the match.

Sonego’s victory is his first against a top-10 player at a Grand Slam, while Rublev’s loss after being 2-0 up is his first.

Khachanov won his third-round match against Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in four sets, 6-4 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-5), earlier on Friday.